We're barely a week into the new year yet we already have a contender for the comeback of the year and it comes from the Sunshine Coast in Australia.
Sent off as the 1/2 favourite in the extended mile contest, the aptly named THE CANDY MAN missed the break by 12 lengths. He was that far behind in the opening proceedings of the race that he wasn't even in the camera shot with it taking him all but 400 metres just to catch up with the pack and tag on at the end.
With the pace seemingly quite slow, which obviously suited The Candy Man, he was held up towards the back of the pack until he hit the home straight and the 2f marker and after that it was simply mesmerising. Spotting a gap to slide through to hit the outside, jockey Damian Browne steered him left to the outside where there was plenty of space and from there he flew home to win by over a length.
The most astounding thing about this victory was that the jockey didn't use the whip once, he won the race on the brindle after giving every other horse a 12 length head start, madness!
This however isn't the first miracle in which the horse has achieved. In a freak stable accident, the horse broke his jaw in seven places which resulted in him spending 10 hours on the operating table at Gatton Horse Hospital.
Trainer Barry Baldwin had this to say: "We thought we had a stakes horse before his accident. I hope he can win a good race but we will have to work on his barrier manners."
"The stewards have ordered him back to practise but we'll give him a little break first. He might be getting a bit cunning."
And as the late Sammy Davis Jr. once said, The Candy Man can!
(Credit: Sky Thoroughbred Central)